Ok, this is it. This is THE chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I know I've said that before. A few months ago I was boasting about this cookie, but you see that was before I tried brown butter! Now there's no going back. How do I know this is one? Because I have no desire to keep trying chocolate chip cookie recipes anymore. I have no little voice in the back of my head saying "this one is really good, but maybe there's a better one out there."This is essentially the infamous New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe, but with brown butter instead of regular butter. Thank you, Blue Ridge Baker for this amazing idea. It basically combines the NY Times recipe with the Cook's Illustrated method for using brown butter. If you've never had brown butter before, then get yourself in the kitchen right now and make something with brown butter because there are no words to describe its wonder (but I'll try anyway). It gives the cookies such a depth of flavor. It creates this really aromatic, caramel/toffee background. You taste it immediately when you bite into the cookie, but it's not overpowering, it's just perfect.This was the first thing I've made with brown butter, and to be completely honest I think I could've browned the butter a little more but I was scared of burning it, so this may be more like a light brown butter chocolate chip cookie. All I know is that is head and shoulders above any other cookie recipe I've tried. (Although, my previous favorite cookie will still have it's place when I need to throw together a cookie quickly). This recipe is a little demanding of your time but sooooooooo worth it. First it requires browning the butter. Then, it requires letting the brown butter and sugars sit for a few minutes. Then, after the dough is finished, there's the dreaded 24 hours of waiting while it rests in the fridge.

I stayed pretty true to the NY Times recipe and used 2 kinds of flour: cake and bread, because I happened to have them both on hand. Blue Ridge Baker used All Purpose flour and clearly loved her cookies as much as I loved mine, so that should work fine too. She also cut the recipe in half so if you are looking for a smaller batch of cookies, head over there and check our her recipe. But seriously, don't cut the recipe in half. You'll want every single one of these! I plan on making these cookies again and possibly incorporating 2 changes. 1) I may use dark brown sugar per the Cook's Illustrated recipe, just for curiosity sake. 2) I may add an extra egg yolk. This is a method I learned from Alton Brown's "The Chewy" in order to help it retain its chewiness. But as it stands, this is the best cookie I've ever eaten. Enjoy!

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars. Pour hot brown butter over sugars, and without stirring, place in refrigerator to cool the butter to room temperature. Attach bowl to mixer and on medium speed, beat until light in color and fluffy. If butter isn't becoming pale, it isn't cool enough. Pop it back in the fridge for a few more minutes and try again.

When butter mixture is desired consistency, add egg and beat for 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, and mix until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate. Form dough into a log and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment. Form dough into balls a little over an inch in diameter, or 1.5 ounces. Place balls at least 2" apart on baking sheet, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, or until slightly puffy, dry on top and tinged with golden.

Let stand on baking sheet for about 1 - 3 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

I wouldn't call this recipe infamous, but it definitely is one of the greatest and is famous!!! YUM!! In fact, I just made these cookies a few days ago (and blogged about them) with three different types of chocolate. I love the color of your cookies!

Hey! I just made chocolate chip cookies with brown butter for the first time yesterday. I think I browned my butter more than yours because mine became a deep toffee brown color. It really really stood out in the flavor of the cookies. I liked the cookies a lot but they weren't my favorite.I've also baked about 1 million chocolate chip cookie recipes. I'm kind of obsessed with them. It's my favorite kind of cookie!

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is one that I did when I was playing with Alton's The Chewy... I created a brown butter version. Were you as addicted to the cookie dough as I was? The brown butter seems to do wonders for this type of cookie. Yum! Will have to try your version too.

Rivqah - Check out this link for browning butter. The best advice I can give you is, don't use a non-stick pan. That makes it hard to see the color of the butter. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_brown_butter/

Ugh I have tried to make these twice now and both times the batter is super gritty with sugar. Am I not letting the butter cool enough? The second try I mixed the butter and sugar for a long time and still the batter was gritty. Is this the way it's supposed to be?

Sorry this question may be lame but the way the recipe is written I can't figure out what the 2 cups minus 2 tbs at the top of the recipe is pertaining to. If someone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Thanks

My search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe is over! I've tried various ones in the past, including the NY Times, Alton Brown's chewy, and someone else's browned butter ccc recipe. All turned out edible, but didn't blow my socks off. I gave up ccc baking for several months. This week, my cookie recipe obsession was revived and I found your blog. First, I tried your "Official Favorite" ccc from the "Great Cookie Spreading Experiment." I loved it. *I* also thought I found my perfect recipe. Then I decided to try this browned butter one. I only made slight modifications--per your suggestions @ the end of the recipe--and wow! These is THE recipe I will use when I'm trying to impress; THE cookies I will give as gifts. THANK YOU soooo much! I loved how these turned out, so I'm going to keep making them w/ my modifications. Again, THANK YOU for sharing your recipe & tips. Looking forward to more of your cookie experiments.

I made these without refrigerating the dough before cooking. They were beautifully shaped and delicious. We didn't really taste the browned butter but they were great and a friend said her favorite chocolate chip cookie ever. I wonder if refrigerating it would bring out the browned butter flavor?

Anon - That should be fine. Put them in the fridge for as long as you can, but I don't think it will matter if it's a full 24 hrs. The comment above you said they made them without refrigerating and they came out fine.

Many people think the cream could help to gain weight, but where you can add light ingredients in our recipes, the cream will fit in your diet perfectly, even the cream can help you to loss weight every time that you eat.

I just made a batch based on your recipe (a couple slight tweaks). These are FANTASTIC! Thanks for the inspiration. If interested, you can check out my version here: http://coleskitch.blogspot.com/2011/01/brown-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

I made these and I had several people say they were too sugary. I don't think it was the sugar, I think it was the superfine cake flour that made the texture very fine and thus people assumed it was grainy or had too much sugar. The flavor was awesome, but I am going to try all purpose flour next time to change the texture.

I was worried that these cookies wouldn't turn out as beautiful as they were in your pictures, but they did! I followed all the directions and just finished baking them--fantastic! I also left them in the fridge for about 48 hours (just because I didn't have time to cook them after 24 or 36), which I think helped them cook very evenly. They were a light golden brown and the chocolate melted well, too!